Monday, May 4, 2009

A new poll released this morning by Quinnipiac shows Arlen Specter leading potential Republican challenger, Tom Ridge, by just three points (46 - 43). While the poll finds that Specter would easily defeat Pat Toomey (53 - 33), it also reveals troubling numbers with regard to Pennsylvania Independents.

Independent voters, who back Sen. Specter over Toomey 45 – 36 percent, switch to Ridge 47 – 37 percent if he becomes a candidate. The former Republican Governor also gets 14 percent of the Democratic vote, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

Friday, May 1, 2009

One month after breaking the party line and voting against the President's budget, a new poll finds that Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh is in very good shape to win reelection in 2010. According to a Hamilton Campaign poll, Bayh's favorability rating is a strong 74%.

Despite opposing the budget, Bayh makes clear his general support for President Obama. From Howey Politics Indiana:

On Wednesday, Bayh put out an e-mail to supporters stating, “Last November, Indiana made history by voting to put a Democrat in the White House for the first time in nearly a half century. In choosing Barack Obama to lead our country during a time of extraordinary economic upheaval, Hoosiers sent a clear message: America is ready for a leader committed to taking bold action to protect American jobs and restore our middle class.”

Bayh added, “President Obama was elected to lead in challenging times. The last time our country faced a crisis of this magnitude was 1932, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sent to Washington with a broad mandate to pull our country out of the Depression. Within 100 days, he passed a series of economic reforms to restore faith in our markets and confidence in our country. Every president since has been evaluated against him for what they’ve been able to accomplish in their first hundred days.”

The poll also found that even 61% of Republicans view Bayh in a positive light, which may be why (despite high approval ratings of his own - 69%), Republican Governor Mitch Daniels says he's not running.

Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning, the most endangered Republican up for reelection in 2010, appears headed for retirement after giving his leading GOP rival the blessing to prepare to run for his seat next year.

Bunning’s retirement would be a huge victory for national Republicans who have grown increasingly nervous that the 77-year-old two-term senator would lose a critical race as the party tries to cling to its diminished minority in the Senate.